Manama: Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has announced the arrest of 44 people, including two women, on suspicion of commiting terrorist acts in 11 different cases.

“As part of ongoing efforts to maintain peace and security, the police conducted an extensive investigation and have arrested a number of suspects in a string of recent violent crimes,” the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday evening.

Four persons, all aged 18, were accused of causing the death of a Bahraini national, Ahmad Al Dhufairi, on April 16, 2012, in an explosion resulting from a homemade bomb left inside burning tyres at Roundabout 18 in Hamad Town, south of Manama.

Three other suspects, aged between 25 and 28, were arrested on charges related to the Manama bombings on November 5 during which homemade explosives planted in various locations caused the death of two Asians and injured several others.

“In the case of the Hyundai warehouse arson in Sitra on November 7, 2012, the search and investigation led to the identification and arrest of a number of suspects,” the ministry said. The six suspects are aged between 25 and 37, according to a statement posted by the ministry on its website.

The ministry added that it arrested eight suspects, aged between 27 and 36, after it uncovered “the terror cell known as ‘Al Imam Army’ on January 19”.

“Some of its members specialised in weapons use and explosives training with the goal of disrupting public security and the safety of the nation.”

Two suspects, 20 and 24, were detained for their alleged role in bomb attacks targeted at bank ATMs in February, the ministry said.

Investigations into an arson attack against a car on Shaikh Hamad Road at Roundabout 18 in Hamad Town on February 14, saw five people, aged 18 and 19, being arrested.

Two persons aged 25 and 26 were arrested over an explosion in Al Dair, a coastal village in Muharraq, Bahrain’s second largest island, on March 17, in which “a homemade bomb caused permanent disability to an Asian.”

Four suspects aged 18, 19 and 20 were arrested for reportedly leaving a suspicious object in front of a burning car on Al Zallaq Road, south of the country, on March 28 and for torching a car near the traffic signal leading to the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) on April 1, the ministry said.

Three persons aged 18, 19 and 25 were arrested for their alleged role in attacking a car near the Bahrain Financial Harbour on April 14 using a homemade bomb.

Three suspects, including two women, aged 31 and 38, and one man, aged 23, were arrested in the case related to “a plan to detonate a homemade bomb during the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 20.”

Four suspects, aged between 30-43, were arrested in the “case of a terrorist group planning to carry out attacks on various locations, including the US Service Centre in Juffair,” the ministry said.

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